Chris, my husband, and I came up with the idea for this pattern. My Dud, who was in a freak motorcycle accident a little over two years ago, absolutely rocks his red and black wheelchair (and now his red and black hand cycle as well), and this hat just sums up how I feel about him.

It also breaks the ice with people who aren’t used to dealing with someone with a physical disability, showing that he has a sense of humor about the situation, accepts it, and continues to do pretty much all the things anyone else does (aside from standing up) by using his arms as his arms and legs.

Initially, the first responders thought my Dud was dead at the scene. Then they gave him about a ten percent chance of living, and thought his quality of life would be very bad. Fortunately, he was wearing about the most expensive full-face helmet one can buy, so he had no brain damage. Well, he was back at work six months after this (albeit half-time for the first semester, since every afternoon was spent in intensive physical therapy). He’s a high school math teacher.